MANCHESTER UNITED MUST TAKE ALL 3 POINTS IN THIS SEASONS FINAL DERBY
Manchester United eliminated from the prestigious UEFA Champions League competition makes for one super engaging headline as evidence of last weeks events against Barcelona has certainly proven to be very profitable for newspaper vendors, Newspaper delivery person and of cause the event has certainly proven to be very profitable for various major sports news outlets worldwide.
Newspapers were flying off the newspaper stalls, consumers looked forward to the paperboy or paper girls regular deliveries as the cock crowed in the morning of last week Wednesday. Some will call Manchester United’s recent UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona as reality check, “heat check,“ or priority check, etc. and the truth is no matter which checks anyone really wants to call Manchester United’s humbling defeat at the hands of Barcelona the label will be nothing short of correct. Prior to the defeat against Barcelona, the Red Devils had strung together a mini-run during the midway point of this seasons Premier League campaign winning 7 out of their last 10 Premier League matches. A very good record that undoubtedly played a part in boosting Manchester United’s confidence into believing the Red Devils could defeat the Catalan giants during the recent Champions League quarter-final encounter. While Manchester United came out a little short in their Champions League aspirations this season, the main priority for Manchester United manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer for the rest of the season must be to make sure the Red Devils maintains the high performance needed by Manchester United to secure a place in the Premier Leagues top four which will guarantee automatic qualification back to the Champions League next season.
The path to next seasons UEFA Champions League competition continues tonight as Manchester United handle the always important and always highly anticipated Manchester derby. Both Manchester had already met during the month of November 2019 was Manchester United had suffered yet another humbling defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side. However, on the grand scale of the last three meetings between both Manchester club, Manchester United has surprisingly held the upper hand winning two out of the last three encounters. With the history between both clubs and the fact that Manchester United currently holds the upper hand in matters concerning the Derby, Manchester United will undoubtedly expect to see a vicious Manchester City side head into Old Trafford this weekend determined to take all three points at the final whistle. How will Manchester United under the guidance of Ole Gunner Solskjaer counteract and subdue a very dominant Manchester City team? will be the main focus of attention this weekend.
With the knowledge of just how vital derbies can play in the season, the expectation will be for Ole Gunner Solskjaer to come out guns blazing with Manchester United operating with their highest caliber players present and healthy at the moment. That means Manchester United fans should expect to see David De Gea in between the Manchester United goal post, expect to see Chris Smalling part of the defensive back four but questions as to who might line up beside Chris Smalling in the back four remains uncertain. With Eric Bailey still expected to be sidelined due to injury Manchester United are expected to hand defender Phil Jones yet another start to the season. With both Eric Bailey and Victor Linderlöff both absent from Manchester United’s recent matches, Phil Jones has been handed a decent number of opportunities to start the last few matches. While there have been no recent complaints about the level of performances seen by Phil Jones recently, Manchester United fans have shown a certain level of complaints concerning the English defenders performance in the past.
Jones might not be the fan favorite around Old Trafford but the English defender must have proven he has what it takes to still have a place in Manchester United’s dugout. Marcus Rojo is yet another player who will have a right to claim a starting spot in tonight’s game against Manchester City. Injury has really depleted the Argentine defenders career at Manchester United but with the last derby of the season schedule to kick off at Old Trafford tonight, Marcus Rojo will be eager to use a place in tonight’s starting XI as an opportunity to remind Ole Gunner Solskjaer that the Argentine defender has more to offer in terms of helping Manchester United achieve their Trophy aspirations next season. Solskjaer will be faced with a bit of a decision when the choice of full backs is raised. While both Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot will fill Manchester United’s desire of having two young, quick, energetic, full backs operating on both flanks, Ashley Young will feel the experience he brings to the Manchester United could play a significant factor in tonight’s derby. There will be no doubt on whether Paul Pogba’s name will be listed in tonight’s starting XI or not as the French midfielder has been the main pillar in Manchester United’s midfield this season and evidence of Manchester United’s recent matches suggests Brazilian midfielder Fred and Scott Mctominay might be the trios given the responsibility of stopping Manchester City’s electrifying midfield.
With Ander Herrera still inconspicuously holding on signing a new contract prior to the 2019 Summer Transfer Window, the Spanish midfielders likely absence is almost a certainty for tonight’s derby. Manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer will certainly have his hands filled with attacking options especially with players such as Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, and Romelu Lukaku all prepped and ready to go tonight. Manchester United have shown signs of struggle in recent matches, a victory in the Manchester Derby tonight will be a great way to maintain their pursuit of a place in the Premier Leagues top four.